Have you been to any festivals or events in Thailand that you would recommend?

 

I enjoy going to some of the more unusual festivals but seem to only hear about after they have taken place rather than before with enough time to plan. The festivals I have enjoyed are below.

 

Buffalo Races in Chonburi

Rocket Festivals in Isan

Elephant Roundup in Surin

Firework Festival Pattaya

 

The following I plan to do in the future but have not yet done.

 

Ghost Festival Dan Sai Loei

Yi Peng Lantern Festival Chiang Mai

Vegetarian Festival Phuket

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani

 

I am not interested in the festivals that seem to be all about food and music but please add any festivals or events you have enjoyed.

 

 

Ghost Festival Dan Sai Loei

 

This one would be fun but be aware that this festival is far away in some corner of the province and not in the capital Loei.

On 6/4/2025 at 12:33 PM, biervoormij said:

....

Buffalo Races in Chonburi                                    maybe 

Rocket Festivals in Isan                                   hard pass

Elephant Roundup in Surin                             are you serious, hard pass

Firework Festival Pattaya                                probably if you like bar girls

Ghost Festival Dan Sai Loei                                wish it was in Loei city.  Dan Sai hilly, much smaller.  yea, probably

Yi Peng Lantern Festival Chiang Mai                        yes

Vegetarian Festival Phuket                                      yes

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani                    hard pass

Bangsaen Grand Prix is worth a visit.  Starts 2nd July.

 

Supercars racing through the streets, pickup truck races with multiple crashes (but not fast enough to cause serious injuries), super-close racing between saloon cars in the one-make races, live bands at night.   And all free!

 

 

Longboat races at the Maprachan reservoir near Pattaya 

2 hours ago, Quentin Zen said:

Buffalo Races in Chonburi                                    maybe 

Rocket Festivals in Isan                                   hard pass

Elephant Roundup in Surin                             are you serious, hard pass

Firework Festival Pattaya                                probably if you like bar girls

Ghost Festival Dan Sai Loei                                wish it was in Loei city.  Dan Sai hilly, much smaller.  yea, probably

Yi Peng Lantern Festival Chiang Mai                        yes

Vegetarian Festival Phuket                                      yes

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani                    hard pass

Why the hard pass on some of these? 

 

I don't know enough about the candle festival so it may not really be my type of thing so is lower on my list.

 

Is the hard pass on the Elephant Roundup because you don't like to see Elephants in captivity?

 

I was living in Pattaya at the time I saw the firework festival but I would say it would be the worst time for a trip to Pattaya. Traffic is at a stand still for the weekend. 

 

I assume the hard pass on the rockets has to do with the danger? 

58 minutes ago, johng said:

Longboat races at the Maprachan reservoir near Pattaya 

Are these dragon boat racing or speed boat racing? I have been to some dragon boat racing at the Royal Thai Rowing Training Center about half way between Pattaya and Rayong it was planned to be at Maprachan reservoir but was moved for some reason.

 

I would like to see speed boat racing but have not found details of an event.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

Bangsaen Grand Prix is worth a visit.  Starts 2nd July.

 

Supercars racing through the streets, pickup truck races with multiple crashes (but not fast enough to cause serious injuries), super-close racing between saloon cars in the one-make races, live bands at night.   And all free!

 

 

Thanks for suggestion. I will put a note in my calendar to look for this event in 2026. I already have travel plans for this July.

6 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

Are these dragon boat racing or speed boat racing?

They are  dragon or rowing boat races..I don't know if or where they hold speed boat races

however they do have  Jetski races  almost every year on the Jomtien beach.

 

Anyone near Muang, PKK and the Red Cross Festival is going till 4 May. Being the larger festival held surfside, along with Father's Day festival, held 2 weeks around 5 Dec yearly.

Nana has festivals every night

49 minutes ago, Rockyroad said:

Nana has festivals every night

I’m a lonely loser and I need to remind people that I am here.

No really, I am. Pay attention to meeee.

Ubon Candle festival is very local and not too impressive in terms of wax sculpture or the length of the parade, but it’s also a very devout holiday in addition to all of the hard drinking so I really do recommend it.

It’s been 20 years, but the Surin elephant fair was more of the same, but with elephants. I have very mixed feelings about the elephant thing in Thailand, but my overall impression is that they are fairly well treated these days, and not like I used to see them tramping along the hard pavement of Suk Road.

Loy Kratong in Chiang Mai remains my favorite, and thanks for reminding me. I need to reserve around now if I do want to get a room facing the river.

Mr ... apparently not a festival fan.

I did the Chonburi Bull fair this year with a Meetup group. If you like rodeos and stuff like that, I don’t, it was like a B minus one.

It is a bit of a hassle to get to, so that’s one where doing it as a tour might make sense, particularly on the coming home part.

I did the vegan festival, also in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. All very similar, I give the nod to Chiang Mai for atmosphere, though the Bangkok one had slightly better options, particularly in the eggplant department.

Lanterns in Chiang Mai has plenty of Chinese people in for it, but Chinese tourists to Chiang Mai are amongst the most culturally sensitive and Thai culture loving tourists.

That might be my favorite festival even over more crowded Loy Kratong.